XK140

XK150

Jaguar’s business was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922, originally making motorcycle sidecars before developing bodies for passenger cars. Since the first Jaguar car was produced in 1935, they have pushed the boundaries of what is possible, inspired by their founder, Sir William Lyons. He insisted that every car the company produced combined performance and beauty like no other. His uncompromising vision set new benchmarks that Jaguar still live by. The first big breakthrough was the launch in October 1948 of their new record-breaking engine design in their XK120 sportscar to replace the pre-war SS Jaguar 100. It was powered by a new twin overhead camshaft 3.5-litre hemi-head six-cylinder engine designed by William Heynes, Walter Hassan and Claude Baily. The XK100 4-cylinder 2-Litre version broke records in Jabbeke, Belgium travelling at 177 mph.

With the likes of the SS100, XK series, E-Type, XJS and so many other notable motoring landmarks, Jaguar have consistently produced desirable, collectable motor cars. Two of the proudest moments in Jaguar’s long history in motor sport involved winning the Le Mans 24 hours race, firstly in 1951 and again in 1953, and 1955. Later in the hands of the Scottish racing team Ecurie Ecosse two more wins were added in 1956 and 1957. When Hexagon began business in 1963 it was heavily involved in servicing and tuning the same special Jaguar sports cars that we enjoy selling today.